This invention relates to hand-held weapons for firing grenade rounds and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a gas propulsion system for launching a high-velocity grenade round using a lightweight, single-shot, dedicated weapon adapted to be carried and fired by a single grenadier.
Modern high-velocity grenades are typically around 40 mm in size and comprise a cartridge containing the propellant and a head adapted to explode upon impact. The head may be designed for various military uses such as antipersonnel use, antitank use and others (e.g. smoke grenade).
Earlier attempts to shoulder fire high-velocity grenades from a hand-held, single-shot weapon have often failed for the reason that even when the recoil force was attenuated, the reaction on the shoulder of the grenadier was intolerable. The structure of the human shoulder joint even in large individuals of great strength is not adequate to endure the high impact forces necessarily generated when a grenade round is fired. Also due to the size and weight of prior art high-velocity grenade launchers, accurate sighting and placement of the rounds has been quite difficult. Usually the firing generates forces that produce a moment tending to jerk the weapon out of accurate alignment, thus destroying the aim.
Recent improvements in the design of weapons to improve the ease of handling and accuracy are shown in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,321,765 and 4,579,037, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein and made a part hereof. The holding apparatus described and shown in both of those patents is incorporated in the design of the grenade launcher of the present invention.
Briefly, that holding apparatus includes separate right hand and left hand stocks, the right hand stock being a generally conventional pistol grip wherein the trigger finger is placed through the trigger guard in a position to squeeze the trigger. The weapon is held in a generally horizontal position with the right hand stock extending laterally to the right so that the operator's right hand wrist axis is horizontal. The left hand stock extends from the opposite side of the weapon and includes a left hand grip so formed that the grenadier's left hand wrist axis is generally vertical. Accordingly, the operator's wrist axes are perpendicular to one another, thus providing an improved capability for controlling the weapon.
Since the human body can tolerate extremely high forces on the palm of the hand--much higher, for example, than on the shoulder joint, the stocks of the present weapon take advantage of this feature and enable the grenadier to fire much higher impulse rounds than ever before.
Also the method of holding places the axis of the weapon in the plane of the grenadier's arms. This puts the arms in direct compression with little or no tendency to rotate any of the major joints of the body. In other words, the recoil force does not tend to rotate the wrist, elbow, shoulder or waist. Thus, the design presented herein takes advantage of these facts and the recoil is taken by the palm of the hands in a manner that does not induce rotation in the primary joints of the body.
Another less obvious advantage of the method of holding stems from the fact that the axes of the wrists are at right angles to one another. In this manner, the strong axis of each wrist reinforces the weak axis of the other. This promotes an extremely steady aim or holding of the weapon.
The weapon of the present invention not only resolves the difficulties and disadvantages indicated above but also affords other features and advantages heretofore not obtainable.